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FGMO Fogging

I've heard of good results from using mineral oil in a propane fogger for the control of mites. The Fat Bee Man swears by it. And it makes sense to me. Since the oil coats everything in the hive, I'm curious how it affects the honey. I have visions of a thin film of oil floating on top of any honey that is extracted. What have been your experiences? And opinions. Have you found it to be effective?

Another question: If one uses FGMO, are you no longer treatment free? My thought is in the affirmative - no longer.

Re: FGMO Fogging

Dr. Rodriguez had a lot of testing done and concluded that it did not show up in the honey. But then it's Food Grade and generally accepted as safe. My bigger concern is the long term effect on the wax. I assume it would get much softer.

I found that constant use was fairly effective. It was not effective enough to catch up if the mites were already out of hand.

It is, by definition a treatment, so of course you would not be "treatment free". It will not contaminate your colony other than making the wax soft. It will not leave residue of pesticides in the wax.

Re: FGMO Fogging

The Swiss government is a lot more pro active in bee research than we are and they found that FGMO in a thermal application was appox 90% effective in reducing the mite population. It needed to be applied in small doses about 3 to 4 weeks apart rather than a heavy application twice a year.
You can read it yourself at <http://www.agroscope.admin.ch/aktuell/index.html?lang=en>
Regards
Joe

Re: FGMO Fogging

We use it with Thyomol, great knock down, good control used once a month. Still use Formic as well. I gotta say the fogger is a blast, so to speak! It allows treatment during the season for a knockdown.